


Christmas Perfection

by Fire_Bear



Series: Walking in a Winter Wonderland [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Christmas Shopping, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-14 02:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12998094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: Gilbert wants to make Christmas perfect for his little brother after their hard year - but the one toy he wants seems to be the most difficult thing to get!When he bumps into Arthur who's after the same toy, his luck seems to be holding out as Arthur seems to know how to get thembotha toy.





	Christmas Perfection

Luddy's Christmas had to be _perfect_.

The Beilschmidt family had had a bit of a difficult year, what with their grandfather and patriarch being hospitalised for a month and their mother's company folding. Her search for a job had finally borne fruit – just in time for Christmas. They were all struggling but, since things seemed to be looking up, all of them were looking forward to the holiday.

Since they'd been a bit tight on money, Gilbert had found a part-time job in his best friend's family's restaurant. So, with the money from that plus his allowance, Gilbert had decided to treat Luddy to the best Christmas they had ever had. The poor boy had been worried for the last few months, trying to help wherever he could. Gilbert had tried to let him retain his childhood and he'd been the one to insist Luddy write out a list for Santa.

Now, though, he was panicking. Like every other kid, apparently, Luddy wanted the action figure from a popular kids' show: Sam Jones, Adventurer. In the show, the kid solved all sorts of mysteries with a combination of brains, brawn and cunning costumes. The toy came with 7 – _seven_ – disguises and was rather expensive as a result. It even included a dress from the episode where Sam Jones had to sneak into a women only club. Luddy loved the show. So did Gilbert.

Not so much the toy.

 _Everyone_ wanted one. All the shops were out of stock. None of them could order them in. Trying to get them online was a nightmare. Any place which had one had such long queues, he never got in in time to get one. Apparently, a few radio shows had them as prizes but Gilbert didn't listen in at the right times or never got through. He was getting more and more desperate.

Then he heard about a supermarket which would have some in, from nine in the morning a week before Christmas. Gilbert resigned himself to skipping school that day in order to get it. He hoped his parents wouldn't be too cross with him. Both of them did know he was determined to get it for Luddy but they probably wouldn't want him to get it at the expense of his education.

But his determination won through and he made his way to the supermarket, wearing clothes he hoped made him look older. Actually, the only different thing he wore was one of his dad's long coats which was a little too big for him. His school trousers seemed to be smart enough, as did his school shoes so he hoped he wouldn't be caught out.

Since he didn't want his parents finding out, Gilbert had to leave at his usual time before rushing to catch the bus into town. Once there, he hurried to the particular shop – and found it already heaving with people in a line which snaked out of the door. Christmas music blared. The tannoy crackled with pleading for calm. People nudged each other. Gilbert gulped – it looked as though getting the toy would be dangerous.

And, as soon as it hit the appropriate time, he was proved right. The queue surged forwards. Shouts came from those who worked there. Everything undulated back and forth. Fights broke out. There was yelling and screaming. Gilbert was shunted along, stumbling over the people in front. He dodged around a few fights and got to the other side of the crowd. Just as he was breathing out in relief, he spotted it. The elusive toy. One of them was sitting the furthest from everyone else. No-one was paying it any mind as they either had their own or were arguing over the ones they had. Seeing that now was his chance, Gilbert darted forward, completely intent on it.

So he was shocked and dismayed when another pair of hands grabbed the box up just as he reached out a hand. His fingers brushed the other person's hand and they both jerked away from each other, turning so they could see who they would have to contend with. Gilbert opened his mouth to speak but paused when he took in the other's appearance.

It seemed to be a boy his own age, bundled up in a coat and scarf. Despite looking quite smart with the grey material and the black school trousers, the other boy didn't look any older. His hair was a blond mess, a sort of straw colour which was sticking up in places, perhaps from having removed a hat. Set in a scowl, the boy's eyebrows were huge and dark. They almost took up half his face, Gilbert mused, rather ungenerously. Then he caught sight of his eyes and nearly gasped – he hadn't known people could have eyes that green. They were a good deal brighter than Antonio's. He'd never seen the guy before and he wondered if he went to a different school nearby or if he'd been up since the early hours making his way here from further afield.

"Um," said Gilbert. He was interrupted by the fighting getting out of hand. Glancing over, he grimaced at the people struggling to push themselves off the shelves and grabbed the boy's wrist. "Come on," he said and led him out the other end of the aisle.

"Wha-? Wait a minute!" the boy exclaimed, tugging against Gilbert's grip. Gilbert only clung on tighter, dragging the boy around the corner and out of sight of anyone who would think they'd be easily overwhelmed. Glancing around showed no sign of anyone paying them any attention so he let the boy go and turned back to him. He was scowling, clutching the box close to him. "Just what was _that_ all about?" he demanded.

"I just wanna... I dunno, talk I guess."

The boy's eyes narrowed. "About what?"

"You know what."

"I'm not giving you it! My little brother wants this."

"So does mine," Gilbert said and tried to put on some puppy dog eyes. "He's not had much of a chance to be a kid lately..."

That made the boy pause, his scowl becoming more of a concerned frown. "What does that mean?"

"Just, y'know, family troubles." Realising how that sounded, he quickly added, "Nothing too bad. Just... financial difficulties. I've had to start working in my friend's family restaurant – _La Comida Bueno_. Do you know it?"

"Yes..."

"And we've had family members in the hospital on top of all that. My little brother's been a bit stressed out..." He gave the boy another pleading look. "I really wanna give him the _perfect_ Christmas!"

"Oh," said the boy. He bit his lip. Gilbert found himself staring at it before he wrenched his gaze down to his prize. Suddenly, the boy straightened as if he'd just had a thought. "Oh! Wait. I know where you can get one!"

"What?" said Gilbert, confused.

"There's a shop next to the one I work in. They've got one of these in there. I saw it in the window until, well..." The boy grimaced and glanced back to where the noises of fighting were only getting worse.

"Huh." Gilbert frowned at him, still befuddled. "Why didn't you buy it from there?"

"Er." Ducking his head, the boy tried to hide his blush. Gilbert could still see it, though, and thought he looked cute – a passing thought he quickly quashed. "The shop's owned by this Chinese man. His son or nephew or whatever is nice and all but the man himself..." The boy shuddered. "He's kind of scary. I hate going in there on my own." He perked up and Gilbert's lips twitched in a little smile of his own. "But," the boy declared, "I can show you where it is!"

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Gilbert pointed out.

"Shouldn't you?" the boy retorted, smirking at him. He was unfairly attractive like that. Gilbert pushed _that_ thought firmly to the back of his mind.

"All right. Let's go toy hunting!" Gilbert cried, pointing his finger in the air in a dramatic pose.

His companion snorted and began to make his way to the checkouts.

* * *

The boy – whose name was Arthur – led him to a bus stop so they could catch one and go two stops away. Once closer to the centre of town, Arthur began to lead him through the labyrinth of streets, still clutching the box, hidden in its bag, to his chest. Gilbert had been wary at first but, by the time they were dodging around more Christmas shoppers, he decided to strike up conversation.

"So which school are you at?" he asked.

"Huh?" Arthur looked over, blinking. "Oh, uh, I'm at Albion Academy."

"Woah, really?!" exclaimed Gilbert, well aware of the posh school. After all, his school was always competing against them in sport competitions or... well, anything really. Mostly, it was a friendly rivalry, though it could sometimes get out of hand. The school was also extremely hard to get into, given that you had to take three exams to get into each year, apparently.

They took their school rankings seriously.

"I take it you're in Gakuen High, then?" Arthur said, nonchalantly. "I mean, you look like you're my age and I haven't seen you around."

"Yup. But what age do you think I am, then?"

"Sixteen or thereabouts. In sixth year."

"Yeah, you got me. You decided on your career choice yet? They're going on about that at our school _all_ the time."

Arthur's nose scrunched up. "Kind of. I want to be a librarian. But I also want to do an actual English course instead of the librarian one so I haven't fully decided yet. What about you?"

"I wanna be a car mechanic," Gilbert told him. "I like cars. They're so awesome – just like me!" He grinned at Arthur who huffed an amused laugh and rolled his eyes. "Figured I'd do an apprenticeship or something," Gilbert added.

"So you'll be straight into a job, then?"

"Hopefully. If not, I'm gonna end up doing something with computers."

"That's... two vastly different things," Arthur commented, looking bemused.

Gilbert shrugged. "I like cars and my blog and..." He trailed off, aware that listing his other, rather geeky interests would make him look... well, like a geek. Why he didn't want someone to know when they could read about it on his public blog was something that baffled him.

"I like reading. And... And I like gardening, as well."

" _Gardening_?" said Gilbert, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"Yes," said Arthur, shortly. "It's relaxing."

"Huh."

"This is it," Arthur declared before Gilbert could say much more, gesturing in front of them.

Blinking in bewilderment – had he really been so focussed on his conversation with Arthur that he hadn't paid attention to his surroundings? – Gilbert took in the shops standing in front of them. To the right was a book shop which displayed both relatively new releases and older volumes. Some of them looked like they should be in a museum. The doorway and window frame were painted a dull orange, making it stand out whilst not being too in-your-face. Written on the sign in swirling letters were the words _Book 'Em_.

Memorising the name so he could find Arthur again, Gilbert turned his attention to the shop beside it. It was a lot more cluttered than the carefully stacked books in the window display. All sorts of odds and ends were there: a penknife, a dining set, some sort of old-fashioned robotic toy, teddies, children's chairs, dining chairs... The display flowed out from inside, huddled against the shop front, the bigger items chained to the wall with various chains and padlocks. Fresh red paint on the walls made it stand out far more than the bookshop. Most of the signage was written with Chinese characters save for the name: _Odds and Sods_. Gilbert wondered if the Chinese below it was a direct translation of the phrase or if it was an approximation.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Should we go in?" he asked, looking nervous.

"Sure thing!" Gilbert agreed.

They stepped inside. Gilbert immediately understood why Arthur didn't want to come inside: there was that much stuff cluttered around that you could be stuck in there forever trying to see everything. Each row of shelves was hidden from the next and it seemed like a labyrinth. There was also an air of mystery about the place. How did this shop survive? Where had it come from? And would it still be there if they tried to return something?

Eventually, a shop counter came into view. Behind it were the valuables, kept under lock and key in a cabinet. Gilbert could see dainty figurines and old-style cameras and other collectibles. And there, pride of place, was the Sam Jones, Adventurer action figure. Gilbert almost stopped breathing from anticipation. He _did_ stop dead; Arthur nudged him forward until he continued up to the man standing at the till, watching them.

The man seemed both old and young at the same time. He held himself with an air of experience that someone in his twenties probably wouldn't manage. Yet, he didn't seem a day over 25. His hair was long and lustrous, tied back in a long, black ponytail draped over his shoulder. He had dark, piercing eyes which locked onto Gilbert as his target and made the boy grimace. One glance at the action figure bolstered his resolve and he strode as confidently as possible up to him. Gilbert could sense Arthur hovering behind him.

"Hi," he said to the man.

"Yes, hello, welcome," said the shopkeeper, his accent mild, probably from years of living in England. "What can I help you with today?"

"The Sam Jones, Adventurer action figure – how much is it?" Gilbert asked. "If you don't mind," he added when he realised that he hadn't really been all that polite.

"For you," said the man with a slimy smile, "fifty pounds."

Gilbert frowned. The high street shops were offering it at £70. Why was this guy trying to get rid of one of the final ones in the world – or so it seemed – for _less_ than the full retail price? "Fifty pounds...?" Gilbert mused. He peered at the box. "Can I have a look at it before I pay?"

"No, no, no," said the man, shaking his head so much his ponytail whipped around with a soft snapping sound. "You must pay and look at home."

"I just want to make sure everything's there," Gilbert insisted.

"What are you implying?" the man demanded, his smile falling into a frown.

"He's not trying to say anything," Arthur suddenly said. "Come on, Gilbert. We should go somewhere else."

"What?" said Gilbert, alarmed. There was nowhere else – was there?

"Come on," Arthur repeated, grabbing hold of Gilbert's wrist. Gilbert's eyes widened at the touch, still confused. He stumbled after his companion.

Only when Arthur had pulled him out onto the busy street did Gilbert wrench his arm free. "What the hell was that about?!" he demanded. "He's got the thing, I just need to pay-"

"No, look!" Arthur cried. He reached into the plastic bag and, with a loud rustling, he pulled the box out. "Look, here, see?" Arthur jabbed his finger at the two outfits which could be seen beside the figure through the clear plastic. "That box in there didn't have it – you could only see the doll. And, in the bad lighting, I'm not even sure if it _is_ Sam Jones. I'm so sorry Gilbert! I didn't realise it was a scam. It's obviously a fake toy. He's ripping you off if that cheap thing cost fifty."

Gilbert's heart sank. That had been his last hope. Now there was no way he was going to get the toy for Luddy. Unless... If he could convince Arthur to let him have his one... "Oh," he said, thinking fast.

Before he could settle on the best way to coerce Arthur into giving it to him (for money, of course), Arthur spoke. "Here," he said, pushing the box towards Gilbert. "You can have this one. It sounds like your brother needs... well, a pick-me-up. Peter'll get so many toys, he won't notice he didn't get this."

Shocked, Gilbert stared at the toy and the boy carelessly giving it to him. Arthur was smiling encouragingly, though it seemed a little pained, a little worried. Obviously, he wasn't sure how well Peter would take not getting the toy.

The expression didn't suit him.

With his heart feeling heavy, Gilbert knew what he had to do.

He took a breath and shook his head, stepping away. "No. You keep it. Luddy's amazing – he won't be upset he didn't get it."

"But, Gil-"

" _No_ , Arthur. Look, you paid for it, you got to it first – it's only fair you have it."

"I don't want you to-"

Shaking his head again, Gilbert took another step backwards. "Nope. I'm not gonna take it. You're not gonna make me."

"I could just put it on the grou- Wait! Gilbert! Where are you _going_?!" Arthur cried, evidently surprised to see Gilbert turn on his heel and walk away.

"I'm going to get Luddy an _even better_ present!" Gilbert declared.

Arthur's footsteps were close as he caught up with him. "What are you-?" he began before Gilbert made the rash choice to get as far from him as possible. He put on a burst of speed and dashed off, leaving Arthur – and Sam Jones, Adventurer – far behind.

He practised his apology to Luddy as he rushed through the streets, wondering what he could get for his brother now...

* * *

On Christmas day, Gilbert tried his best to hide his heavy heart. Luddy was still excited, smiling wide as he unwrapped a variety of less amazing presents. There was a new bike, other action figures, a cheap remote controlled helicopter and a transforming robot that Gilbert had bought in place of the Sam Jones toy. Each one was met with a genuine smile and heartfelt thank you. He even hugged Gilbert once he'd opened his present and Gilbert's heart ached.

Of course, he was distracted with his own presents: chocolates and DVDs and a variety of geeky t-shirts which Gilbert laughed at. Luddy came over to see what he had and Gilbert tried to force him into his new Elf t-shirt. They were dodging around each other, yelling and laughing when their mother spoke over the top of them.

"Oh? What's this?" she said, pulling out a present neither of them had noticed. "It looks like it's for Ludwig – from Santa. _And_ " – she reached behind the tree to pull an envelope out from where it had been hidden between the branches – "this is a card for Gilbert from the jolly man, as well."

"What?" said Gilbert, confused. A card? Another present? When had they gotten there? And who was the card actually from? He took the envelope but paused to watch Luddy open his present.

Once his little brother had removed all the paper, Gilbert gaped at it. The box within contained a genuine Sam Jones, Adventurer action figure. Gilbert couldn't understand it – he was sure his parents hadn't bought it. Then who could...?

While Luddy celebrated with a shout of surprise and wonder, Gilbert ripped the envelope open. Within, there was a card as his mother had told him. It had a little robin standing on a wintry log. In curly writing were the words _Happy Christmas_. The card itself was made from the good sort and was more expensive than anything Gilbert had ever handed out. He flipped it open and stared at the message within in shock.

 _Dear Gilbert,_  
_Don't worry. I didn't follow you home – you are far too fast for me._  
_Let me explain how your brother now has a Sam Jones doll. Or action figure, anyway._  
_When I returned home after school that day we both tried to buy one of the action figures, I took the box to my mum so she could hide it with Peter's other presents. She was annoyed that I'd bought one without her knowledge as she already had one. She wanted me to take it back but I explained that I wanted to gift it to someone else. Of course, she complained about me wasting money, but I don't see this as being a waste._  
_I remembered that you said that you worked in La Comida Bueno. My friend, Francis, knows the family and he introduced me to Antonio who I think is your friend? I explained to both of them how we'd met and how I wanted to give your brother the toy. ~~They~~ They gave me your address and I will give it to your parents while you're working. I thought this would be a nice surprise._  
_Have a Happy, Perfect Christmas, Gilbert._  
_Best Wishes,_  
_Arthur Kirkland_  
_P.S. 077********_  
_Call me at some point and let me know how much Luddy liked it._

Gilbert bit his lip to hold back a laugh. He couldn't believe the lengths Arthur had gone to get him the present, to make the Beilschmidt's Christmas perfect. Glancing around the room, he stood and made his way to the hall, murmuring something about going to the toilet. Once he'd escaped, he pulled out his phone and called the number. As soon as he heard the click of the phone being answered, Gilbert spoke, voice shaking slightly.

"Hi, Arthur. Merry Christmas."

He could hear the smile in Arthur's voice when he replied. "Merry Christmas, Gilbert."


End file.
